Anita Shreve

At a New England boarding school, a sex scandal is about to break. Even more shocking than the sexual acts themselves is the fact that they were caught on videotape. A Pandora's box of revelations, the tape triggers a chorus of voice -- those of the men, women, teenagers, and parents involved in the scandal -- that details the ways in which lives can be derailed or destroyed in one foolish moment. A gripping emotional drama with the pace of a thriller, Anita Shreve's Testimony explores the dark impulses that sway the lives of seeming innocents, and the ways in which our best intentions can lead to our worst transgressions.

Testimony

a novel

Gemma McCarthy

Or was it because everyone loved to see the elite … brought down and ridiculed?

A Novel

Sarah Sammis

Testimony I started knowing the basic plot and the basic narration technique. It's about the fallout from a video tape showing a girl having sex with three boys. The problem: she's 14 and some of them are 18. Worse yet, the school headmaster has had the brilliant idea of covering things up. All of these events are told as a series of short chapters, most of which are told from the first person point of view of someone who either participated or was affected by the event.

For all those many different personalities all vying for a piece of the story, Shreve does an excellent job of creating unique and believable voices for each character who testifies. Her teens sound like teens. Her recent adults still sound like kids sometimes. The parents sound like parents. All of these voices come together to show how one night of bad decisions continue to have consequences rippling through the community.

As I read Testimony I was reminded in a number of places to J. Thomas's young adult gay romance Without Sin. Both deal with relationships at private schools and touch on the theme of consequences. Testimony shows the aftermath and Without Sin ends without playing through all the consequences. In both, the relationships are hardest on the parents, teachers and other adult authorities at the schools. Even for the young men in Testimony who had to serve time for their participation come through the book more hopeful than the older adults.

Testimony isn't a cut and dry morality tale. Instead, it is a character study. It throws people into a bad situation to see what can be learned about human nature.

really compelling novel. achingly sad from all points of view, so much tragedy in what seems like such a short time. the story was told in chapters from different people involved and i really liked that we got bits and pieces from each person until finally the it all made sense. really thought provoking, which is not something i thought it would be purely reading the blurb i was just in it for a scandal, and hammers home the idea that every action has a consequence no matter how big or small. having read “the pilots wife” a few years ago i’m now definitely going to look for more of her books!

Testimony

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